today is 12/12/12. up behind me. it is repeating number. won't happen again until the year 2101. that will happen on january 1st, right? it holds special significance for some. thousands in the united states are planning to get married today. they want that to be their anniversary. bill: road trip. martha: go to the chapel for the big day. that sounds really romantic. bill: a couple got married at 12:12 in the morning on 12/12. martha:. lots of twefls. see you tomorrow. jenna: it is 11:00 a.m. eastern time and brand new stories and breaking news. jon: violent protests in michigan as it becomes the nation's the 24th right-to-work state. a gunman opens fire in a mall packed with christmas shoppers. what we know about the shooter. plus new information on the 11-year-old cancer

patient taken out of an arizona hospital, all "happening now" jon: "happening now", new reaction to korea's defiant launch of a long range rocket from the north. hello, i'm john scott. >>. jenna: hi, everybody i'm jenna lee from washington, d.c. today. the north koreans say this is launch is a success as the united states and our allies condemn the move calling it a test of technology for a missile that could be eventually used in a nuclear attack. many saying this is a huge threat to regional security. north korea is insisting it is just a peaceful effort to put a satellite into orbit. right now the u.n. security council is meeting behind closed doors to discuss a response. in the meantime a lot of talk happening in d.c. national security correspondent jennifer griffin is live at the pentagon with more on this.

so far, what is the reaction? >> reporter: we heard from u.s. officials, they are calling this very highly provocative act. it has been a swift response. we have a statement from national security council spokesman tommy vitter. he said, quote, this action is yet another example of north korea's pattern of irresponsible behavior. the united states remains vigilant in the face of north korean provocations and fully committed to the security of our allies in the region, devoting scarce resources to the development of ballistic missiles and nuclear weapons has not brought north korea security and skaept tans by the international community and never will. jenna, as you mentioned the u.n. security council is meeting as we speak behind closed doors. the north koreans have very little to fear in terms of serious sanctions as a result of this action because of course its friend, china is on the security council and has blocked those kind of actions in the past, jenna. jenna: interesting that you mentioned china. is there any indication that

the north koreans had help from the outside? any sort of outside country with this launch? >> reporter: well there is no evidence per se but it is widely known that the north koreans could not get the parts for their ballistic missile program without having those parts flown through china, bypassed through china. there also have been reports on the voice of america that an iranian team of scientists have been seen recently, in recent days in north korea. so there is questions about the relationship between, and any help that may have been provided to the north koreans by the iranians. clearly the north koreans are very proud of this long range ballistic missile launch. the one in april failed miserably. and for the first time then they admitted that it did fail publicly. this time they extended the window and did not invite foreign journalists to watch this and simply announced when it was successful.

they didn't want to take a chance of it failing again. the north koreans trying to time this to coincide with the death of their, their leader a year ago, and so that's why they're carrying this out this week. it is an attention-geting exercise. most u.s. officials believe. the pentagon has been notably silent in reaction to the launch last night, jenna. jenna: it has certainly gotten a lot of our attention and we'll be talking about it today. jennifer, thank you. >> reporter: thank you very much. jon: for more on the north korean launch let's bring in am gas door john bolton, former ambassador to the u.n. good morning ambassador. >> good morning jon. jon: what should the u.s. response should be? >> i think our policy or north korea has been wrong for a long time. i'm in the in favor of a long shift in policy. i think the only way to deal with north korean nuclear weapons program, let's be clear this launch is part of

nuclear weapons program. it is a delivery vehicle for the warhead when they're finally able to mate the nuclear device and the missile. what our policy should be is reunification of the core reason peninsula. the only way we solve the north korean nuclear weapons problem is ending north korean. that is arduous past. i understand that. in the short term we used up the conventional devices. north korea is the most heavily sanctioned country on earth. it obviously didn't stop the missile launch. it has not stopped them from testing two nuclear devices. i think that route will not produce anything. you have to take a longer view and a bigger picture. jon: so there aren't more sanctions that could be imposed on pongyang that could be imposed in your view? >> you could have more sanctions and ask whether russia, china and others will comply with the sanctions. the evidence this launch is existing sanctions, and there have been several

security council sanctions going back to 2006, the united states and some others have had near total sanctions on north korea for close to 50 years but they obviously have not worked and more sanctions won't work either. jon: this is what, the third time that the north koreans have, you know, put together some highly provocative act, just really during the obama administration. the message that the u.s. has to send out has to be clear but what kind of, what kind of stick do we have to go with our words? >> well i think we've got to convince china and i concede it is an arduous task, but i think we have to convince china their own security long term depends on ending the north korea's nuclear weapons program. china could do that alone if it wanted to. it supplies 90% of the north korea's energy and substantial amounts of food to keep the north korean population there instead in china. but china has not been

willing to do that because it fears that the regime would collapse and the peninsula would reunify. that's what we need to convince china long term it is in their interests. if north korea's nuclear weapons program goes on other countries in the region, japan, south korea, taiwan and others are themselves going to look whether they want nuclear weapons which would obviously make the entire region much more unstable. jon: and for those who wondered whether kim jong-un had staying power as leader of north korea, he just bought himself a whole lot of time in that job, didn't he? >> well i think he showed that the capability of the north koreans has been underestimated and i think you're right. this will be a political boost for him but let's be clear. this rocket-testing program and the work with iran have been going on for decades and they have had some notable failures but each failure tells them something and each success tells them something. if they can put a payload

into orbit which we concede they have apparently done, in effect they're well on the way to putting a nuclear payload anywhere on the planet. jon: two members of the original axis of evil still working together. ambassador john bolton, thank you. >> thank you. jenna: we're going to turn to some news a little closer to home now. we're following some major developments in michigan after governor rick snyder signed two bills into law making michigan the nation's 24th right it work state. now despite violent pro-union protests all day, governor snyder last night said these new laws will create more jobs. >> i don't view this as anti-union at all. i believe this is pro-worker. this is an opportunity for unions to step up to say how they can provide the best value to workers in our state and be really responsive and listen to them and hopefully get successful getting workers on board. jenna: many strong opinions about this. mike tobin in lansing,

michigan with the latest. mike? >> reporter: a lot of sound, fury and big numbers are gone from the demonstrationsgan. if you look behind me the afl-cio with a silent protests. you see tape across their mouth. $1500 less that's what they believe on average workers will make here in michigan now that it has become a right-to-work state. this is sharp contrast what we saw yesterday, hundreds and hundreds of angry demonstrators on the capitol ground and capitol building itself. the democrats say this does in the mean the fight is over. a spokesman for the democratic party says all options are on the table. the trend we've seen, democrats offering to fight but not offering think specifics. we saw the same thing from bob king from the united auto workers yesterday, giving same lack of specifics. only broad concepts they're looking to challenge right to work laws in court. they will go after the speed which the laws moved through the legislature. democrats and union political machines will go after republicans in elections in 2014. they are looking to change

the majority that the gop holds in both the senate and the house here in michigan. and they're looking to prove that theory. once you go after organized labor that is like kicking hornet's nest. we see the democratic leadership in meets, not telling what is going on in the meetings, only promising this is not the end of this fight, jenna. jenna: hornet's nest indeed. mike tobin covering the breaking details over the last several days for us. meantime congressman levin will join us later on this hour. he is a democrat from michigan. he has been the at forefront of labor issues in that state since the 1960s. he is obviously against what happened in the state government. we'll talk to him a little bit what is next and what does it mean for the transitioning u.s. economy. jon? jon: there are brand new developments, jenna, in the alaska serial killer case. who police say this confessed killer of a young barrista was also targeting and why he never carried out his deadly plan. as a deadly bloody civil

war rages in syria, the opposition gets new support from around the wormed and the united states. what president obama just said. and a look how this crisis figures in the foreign policy challenges mr. obama faces in his section term. that is -- second term. that is next. [shouting] having you ship my gifts couldn't be easier. well, having a ton of locations doesn't hurt. and a santa to boot! [ chuckles ] right, baby. oh, sir. that is a customer. oh...sorry about that. [ male announcer ] break from the holiday stress. fedex office.

jon: right now some new information on crime stories we're keeping an eye on. police say the man who confessed to murdering an alaska barista also planned to kill her boyfriend. before israel keyes committed suicide in jail he told investigators he new samantha koenig's boyfriend was coming to pick her up from work but he later changed his mind about killing him. police say keyes also confessed to seven other murders across the country but they don't yet know the i.d.'s of his victims. 7-year-old austin sigg is returned to a courtroom. he is accused of killing and

kidnapping jessica ridgeway. he also attacked a jogger who escaped. a judge ruled sieg will be tried as an adult. lindsey lohan will be arraigned on charges stemming from a car accident in june. a judge could send the "mean girls" star to jail on a probation violation. jenna: from lindsay lohan we'll turn to foreign policy. united states will now join more than 100 countries that have recognized syria's opposition coalition. the president, president obama announcing it to barbara walters in an exclusive interview set to air on 20/20 on friday. >> we made a decision that the syrian opposition coalition is now inclusive enough, is reflective and representative enough of the syrian population that we consider them the legitimate representative of the syrian

people in opposition to the assad regime and so we will provide them recognition and obviously with that recognition comes responsibilities on the part of that coalition. >> that's a big step. >> it is a big step. there is a small element of the, of those who oppose the assad regime that are in fact affiliated with al qaeda in iraq and we have designated them, al-nosra, a terrorist organization. we'll make clear to distinguish between those elements of the opposition --. jenna: joining us now, aaron david miller, former advisor to six secretaries of state. good to have you on set, face-to-face. >> a pleasure, jenna. jenna: what do you think about the decision and as well as the timing of the decision? >> having the president do it clearly elevates the stature. jenna: announcing the change? >> correct. had hillary clinton gone to the friends of syria meeting at marrakech she may have

done it out there. but having the president do it here elevates the status and significance of it. president made a virtue out of a necessity. it was at least they could do in order to have coherent opposition outside the country. they may be able to funnel assistance to them. in in fact there is negotiation or transitional government this is certainly a place to start. however it is still a limited move because what counts as those inside the country that are doing the fighting, that are creating the narratives and the myths, that will lay the foundation for the emergence of the next struggle for syria. jenna: and those myths or propaganda, whatever you like to call them are difficult to navigate at least from our standpoint here. do you think the decision by the president makes us safer? >> i think with recognition comes responsibility and a certain amount of risk. we are now responsible for the first time, for the behavior of some of these groups. and let's be clear. they may have syrian interests that are not may

have of their own. they don't necessarily have our interests at heart. i don't think we'll like some of the future visions for the groups of syria. jenna: also to lead our show out of the news of north korea. we've heard the president and his desire to pivot eastward as part of his foreign policy we're looking forward to in his second term. how do you see these things working together? how do you prioritize, either pivot east towards china and north korea or dealing with some of the problems still existing obstacles in the middle east? >> we'll have to do both. walking and chewing gum at the same time which we're perfectly capable of doing. we have to accept the fact we don't control the world. given difficulties in iraq and afghanistan we'll have to be very, very disciplined when, how, why and where we choose to project american political and military power. jenna: it is interesting. you wrote a column, part of your weekly column, about the president's second term and how he will act and what

he will do as president and some of the things you said about the president sounds good, sounds complimentary. you said he is cautious, he is deliberate. he has a leadership style that is specific to him but you also say that he has not demonstrated the kind of strategic grasp of a hen -- henry kissinger or james baker. what does that mean to the average american? >> i think it means, smart foreign policy means two things. protecting america's national interests and be really clear what those interests are and finding a way to exploit opportunities. barack obama came into office and wanted to transform the world. he thought as consequence of failings of his predecessor and his own strengths he could somehow do that. what he is finding i think as we talked, he is finding a world filled with migraine headaches on one hand and root canals on the other. jenna: both not great options. >> no. america is stuck frankly in the middle east which is the region out of the major threats to our national interests will come. we're stuck in a region we

can't fix and yet we can't leave. that is the conundrum. that is the real problem, not just for this president, but for his successors as well. jenna: number one priority for a second term? >> i think it is going to be iran. iran is themost kinetic issue. he is on record saying he will not allow iran to acquire a nuclear weapon. israelis are much less flexible in terms of time on this one. that will be the number one issue. jenna: i have to run but do you think iran is involved in the north korea test? >> do i think iran is involved with the north korea test. it is certainly possible. exporting this technology is become come mop place these days. that is how the iranians began to develop their own weapon. jenna: we'll have a guest coming up next hour he believes the connection is there and north koreans are firing off the missile as almost a test drive for the iranians. it all kind of comes together. all this news. always a pleasure to have you. >> remember, headaches or

root canals. jenna: headaches or root canals. i don't know, jon, headache or root canal, how do you choose? jon: pretty ominous comparison there, jenna. we'll have an update on the young cancer patient caught on camera leaving an arizona hospital with her mother. the two are speaking where they went and how that little girl is doing now. plus we're learning more about a terrifying shooting spree in a packed shopping mall and hearing from those inside on how they survived this deadly rampage. >> we got escorted out by the u.s. marshals i think. i don't know who they were. s.w.a.t. team, maybe. they weren't even sure where the shooter was. they had to secure our store. the only reason we got out because we had a witness in there.

jenna: this just in. update on a search for a cancer patient taken from a arizona hospital by her mother. rick folbaum as the latest. >> reporter: you remember this video because of this video. she and her daughter emily, you see them coming off the elevator on the left. you may notice emily's right arm has been amputated above the elbow. she had been in the hospital in phoenix for cancer treatments when her mother decided to take her out of there. doctors were worried without proper treatment emily could die from an infection. turns out emily is being treated in her father's native mexico and apparently doing okay. the mother and daughter appearing on local media outlets today. she is blaming the phoenix children's hospital for the infection that required emily's arm to be amputated. she also says she was bullied about her daughter's medical bills. we reached out to the

phoenix children's hospital. they did not return our call or our e-mail. police in phoenix have not said whether or not their investigation is complete but the good news i guess right now that little girl is okay. back to you. jenna: we'll take good news where we can, rick, thank you. >> my friend was already on the ground, crawling towards the doors. i heard two more shots. i jump on the ground. i'm crawling towards the doors. i heard this guy yell, get on the ground, get on the ground, a couple times. i got up the and i just started running. >> from what we saw running going to the back we saw a lot of people running out towards the jcpenney's area but we felt it was safe to go in the back. i hid her in the cup boards. >> i was feeling really scared. jon: imagine being in that mall with your child? survivors are sharing their stories about escaping a deadly shooting rampage inside a portland area mall. a masked gunman opened fire

on a crowd of holiday shoppers, killing two people, wounding another and apparently then took his own life. we're learning more about the shooter and what happened inside that mall. dan springer live for us in portland. dan, what can you tell us? >> reporter: jon, we know the gunman caulked into the -- walked into the maul through one of the ainge core stores, the macy's behind me and walked into the mall through the macy's store at 3:30 yesterday afternoon he opened fire. most witnesses put the number of gunshots right around 20. the suspect police say did not have any connection to his victims. this looks like another one of those horrific random acts. the scene inside obviously panic and chaos. some people captured video on cell phones and put it up on social media. roughly 10 to 12,000 shoppers and workers were inside at the time. obviously the height of the christmas shopping season. here is what it sounded like

on police scanners. >> the gun jammed and there is a mag laying out here fully loaded at least last place they saw them go. he fired 10 or 15 rounds out here and the gun jammed on him. >> reporter: the suspect's name along with the two people who were killed, the names of those victims will likely be released in about 90 minutes. police are holding a news conference, jon. jon: wow! i guess there is one girl still in the hospital. how is she doing? >> reporter: that's right. well, thankfully she is doing pretty well. she was shot yesterday, taken to a local hospital. it was an 18-year-old girl but she was said to not need surgery and is expected to fully survive and recover. she is in serious condition. this could have been, as bad as it was, could have been much more tragic. many more victims it. obviously so many shots being fired. there is a report that the gun jammed at one point. this guy was wearing, we were told, body armor along with one of those

jason-style hockey masks. unconfirmed report that is the gun jammed. but still among the people who fled the gunfire was the mall's santa. listen to him. >> well i heard about 18 more shots, i decided it was a semiautomatic and i hit the floor and my employees must have just scattered and got out of there. when i got up there was nobody there but me. but then i didn't know whether i should who have or not, you know? >> reporter: and the clackamas town center mall is closed for the day. police still have a lot more investigation to do. they have to look through surveillance tapes. could be open again tomorrow, jon. jon: as bad as it was it could have been a lot worse as you say. dan springer live in portland. thank you. jenna: as the clock winds down on the looming fiscal cliff one key stumbling block is trying to reach a deal when it comes to spending. when we look at spending we look at things like food stamps. we'll look at the price tag for this safety net program and how it plays into the

national debate on debt. plus, some bombshell developments in michigan as governor rick snyder okays new right to work laws. what it means for organized labor. the future of unions in this country as well as our economy next. it's my favorite time of year again

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assistance to feed their families. we know how the economy has been over last couple years. so these things do work together. shannon bream is here. we have a new series, cost of spending. shannon will kick it off for us. when we talk about food stamps who really is paying the bill? >> the first obvious answer would be the american taxpayer. obviously this money funnels through the federal government but the fact is it goes beyond that. this is program you have to pay it out. federal government has no options. when taxpayer money is not there to cover it they have to borrow from foreign places like china to cover this program. here is what senator jeff sessions told me. >> it's a guaranteed thing. it's an entitlement program. that means if you meet the income qualifications, the government must give you the money. whether the government has any money to give you or not. if they don't they have to borrow it. that's what we're doing. >> reporter: by the way the food stamp program is exempt from sequestration. even if we go over the fiscal cliff those benefits will still be paid out even if lawmakers don't reach a

deal. senator sessions did try to pass something in the senate that would have put food stamps on the table for the fiscal cliff negotiations and failed in the senate. jenna: let me ask you that is it part of the fiscal cliff negotiations or are food stamps in their own column right now? >> reporter: he tried. it is considered an entitlement program so it has to be funded. he did try to get the specific measure passed in the senate and it failed. jenna: any response from the administration on this? >> reporter: we reached out to the white house on this and want to give them opportunity to explain or comment on the fact under president's first term food stamps are up 39%. amount of americans dependent on them. the white house directed us to the u.s. department of agriculture and oversees this program and other similar programs. here is what they told us. the increase in snap participation during the 2008 and 2010 pared of economic decline which include the recent recession was consistent during increase in previous periods of economic decline. senator sessions and others make a point. the math doesn't add up. as we're seeing unemployment rate tick down very slowly

small increements at a time explosion of people who are dependent on food stamps continue to rise. 600,000 new people in september was added to program. the math doesn't add up. if the economy is doing better why do we have a explosion? jenna: lower unemployment is not a way to lower food stamp problem. >> the costs keep rising. jenna: the economy is way it is. we'll talk about the economy. shannon, great to see face-to-face as always. jon. jon: the fiscal cliff talk is ticking less than three week to go to hammer out a deal before automatic spending cuts and kick in. house speaker boehner has made it clear republicans are staying in washington before and after christmas to solve the crisis as the president pushes his plan with bipartisan group of mayors and community leaders. chief congressional correspondent mike emanuel live on capitol hill. we had slight movement on

the fiscal cliff negotiations, mike, but it doesn't really sound like they're close to a deal, huh? >> reporter: that's right, jon. president obama reduced his new revenue demand from $1.6 trillion over 10 years to $1.4 trillion over 10 years. house speaker john boehner says he is the most optimistic guy in washington but serious differences remain and the republicans may not feel like they have a whole lot of leverage in the negotiations with a democrat in the white house and democrat controlling the senate but they are threatening when it comes to the calendar. take a listen. >> the president seems to be walking you ever so slowly towards the cliff. we've said we're committed to staying here. we're going to stay here right up until christmas eve, throughout the time and period before the new year because we want to make sure that we resolve this in an acceptable way for the american people. >> reporter: of course the president would like to go to hawaii for the annual vacation. lawmakers would like to go

home to be with families over christmas holidays. threatening to work through the holidays may get some people's attention, jon. jon: we haven't heard from the president so far today as far as i know. we heard from house democrats. what are they saying. >> reporter: we heard from leading house democrats, social security is off the table. the president says so. they are pushing republicans in the house to take up a vote on bush middle class tax cuts which obviously the republicans also want but want it is a part of a bigger deal. here is more from a leading democrat a short time ago. >> what about jobs? what are you guys doing down there? and the hard truth is speaker boehner has a difficult task. i believe that he will succeed in bringing his conference around. >> reporter: so a bit of optimism from a leading house democrat there, jon. jon: optimism is in short supply these days. we'll take all of it that we can get i guess.

mike emanuel, thanks. >> reporter: thank you, jon. jenna: we're following breaking developments in michigan where governor rick snyder signed two bills into law last night making michigan the 24th right-to-work state. the laws ban unions requiring workers to pay dues or when hired pay equivalent of the dues. here is governor snyder from a news conference last night. >> i view this as an opportunity to stand up for michigan's workers, to be pro-worker, to say here opportunity to give workers a choice, the freedom to choose who they associate with and whether they pay financial dollars to organizations they may not believe are serving their best interests. hopefully those organizations are, and they see value and sign up and pay those dollars. but if they don't, they're not forced into that position. jenna: joining me now, congressman sandy levin, democrat from michigan. also the ranking member of the house ways and means committee. nice to have you in studio with us. >> nice to be with you. jenna: what a pleasure. you said if the governor made this decision which he

has made, this would plunge michigan into endless controversy and strife. why do you think that? >> because it divides workers among themselves and really divides workers from management. if you ask the big three, do they want the right to work so-called, their answer would be no because we have evolved in michigan some amicable labor-management relations and workers have a voice. it has to be done by a majority. and they now have a voice in the workplace and management, the big three and others think, it is good for workers to have a serves. jenna: my understanding in 1965 when you were working in state government you were part of developing one of the first major laws that talk about employment and labor relations in this country. so it must be interesting for you to look back on that and see where the state is now. what do you make of the transition? >> well in the '60s people in the public sector did not have a voice. they could not be

represented. wayne state and i called them when asked, could you not recognize a union, they said no because the king can do no wrong. essentially the employer called the tune entirely. so we said let workers have a voice. if a majority wants one. and i worked with governor romney. i sat down then as a younger state senator, one-on-one and we worked out the public employment relations act. now you have a republican governor who has essentially turned his back on what a republican governor and i worked out and others many decades ago. jenna: you know the argument as well for wanting this right-to-work law. some say the economy has changed. you look at the state of michigan. it has very high unemployment. the city of detroit is near 19% unemployment. so when you look at those arguments, you look at right-to-work states overall have lower unemployment rates than other states, what do you think about the

potentially this being a move for the positive? maybe this is something that opens up the state to more jobs? >> there is no evidence that happens. indeed what has happened productivity has risen in this country. the last decades by 60, 70% but wages have been more or less stagnant. and if workers don't have a voice, they can't better their own condition. you know, we've had a middle class that really in terms of income been stagnant. in 201090% of the income growth went to the top 1%. the top 1% needs to be talking to the 99% and representation gives people a chance to have a voice. and essentially what, it isn't right-to-work. people don't have a join a union. they don't have a pay union dues. if a majority selects a representative, essentially everybody needs to pay the cost of that representative

sentation. jenna: ask you a real quick question. other than the state of the michigan. you mentioned you worked with a republican governor. you worked across the aisle many times in your career. can you give the american people status update what is happening with these fiscal cliff negotiations? do you see that coming together, both sides? >> i hope so but there's a cliff in this country in terms of how we approach things. the president ran on a plank, very wealthy no longer should get a tax break. middle class taxpayers should continue to get a lower tax than they otherwise would. the republicans, if i might say so, simply have to listen to the election results. the president was clear. we asked can dates to be clear about their positions. the president was utterly clear that the tax rates for high income people should return to the clinton era. the people spoke. the republicans should listen. jenna: congressman, pleasure to have you on set. look forward to have you come back.

talk to us about spending at the national level. >> be glad to do that. jenna: thank you for the time. jon? jon: get away from all this earthly talk of fiscal cliffs and other problems and get to dramatic new findings from space. nasa's hubble space telescope has helped astronomers discover something never seen before. we'll tell you about it coming up [ malennouncer ] it's tt time of year again. time for citi price rewind. because your daughter really wants that pink castle thing. and you realldon't want to pay more than you have to. only citi price rewind automatically searches for the lowest price. and if it findone, you get refunded the difference. just use your citi card and register your purchase online. have a super sparkly day! ok. [ male announcer ] now all youeed is a magic carriage. citi price rewind. start saving at citi.com/pricerewind.

jon: right now, a look at the future of nasa in the face of budget constraints. hearing underway in washington, lawmakers are talking about what is next for america's space program. this coming as nasa unveils the latest findings from its hubble space telescope including a previously unseen population of primitive galaxies. i didn't know galaxies could be primitive but apparently they are. doug mckelway live in washington. so where does nasa go from

here, doug? >> reporter: that is really the million dollar question. it comes at a time where nasa is at a real crossroads. it ended the shuttle program. has no capability to send its own astronauts into space. facing tremendous pressure to cut costs as is the rest of the federal government and facing real competition from the private sector. perhaps the most challenging of nasa's issues is the lack of direction from national leaders. >> there remains however, a lack of consensus on the agency's future direction among the united states political leadership. without such a consensus the agency can not be expected to develop or work effectively toward long-term priorities. in addition there is a mismatch between the portfolio of programs assigned to the agency and the budget allocated by congress. >> reporter: the major general suggested four options for nasa's future. restructuring the agency to reduce infrastructure,

engage in cost-sharing partnerships with private sector and international partners, or increase its budget, or reduce nasa's portfolio. either halt human exploration entirely or earth science or robotic exploration, any one of which would require legislative action. one suggested the nasa follow the model of formula one auto racing high-tech expensive endeavor successfully funded by million dollars of corporate sponsorship and marketing. jon: wouldn't that be interesting. all kinds of logos on the side of a nasa lawn of vehicle. the agency does continue to have its successes. i guess we'll see that this afternoon? those new hubble space photos? >> reporter: that's right. these promise to be remarkable photos, jon. we've already seen a few of them. in a conference call nasa offers explanations what we're looking at. we can say the images are looking fartherest back into time and space to capture the earliest stages of our

universe that man has ever seen. we're talking 13 billion years ago, to see any further back than that, nasa needs a new telescope, the james webb telescope, which is now under development and but facing budget restrictions. it would pier back at the very first stars and creation of the very first galaxies. can't wait to see that, when and if it is launched, jon. jon: that will be interesting. doug mckelway in washington. thank you, doug. jenna: well, up next we'll turn our gaze to egypt, facing another political crisis. there is push, brand new push on capitol hill here in d.c. urging the government to crack down on arms smuggling to terrorists. what if egypt doesn't heed the warning of lawmakers then what? georgia senator johnny isakson weighs in next. ♪

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jenna: welcome back, everyone. as violence rages in egypt, there is brand new push, bipartisan push on capitol hill urging president morsi in egypt to crack down on arms smuggling from egypt to the sinai. we have johnny isakson from georgia, members of the foreign relations committee. >> nice to be here. jenna: you're asking president morsi to be tough on these smugglers. have you received any response so far? >> not yet, but i hope they will pay close attention, that philadelphia corridor that goes through egypt and gaza is the main smuggling route for hamas gotten possession of, hamas and palestinians. we don't need them to rearm. we don't need israel to go to war. we need to make sure the corridor is clear. jenna: to be sure there are a lot of different pathways through the corridor. one being some suggest from

iran through sudan up through the corridor into gaza. we're talking about very powerful weapons. if they don't do this, don't crack down on smuggling, then what? >> we have a serious problem. it will be a breach of egypt's commitments in the camp david accords, number one. second it will raise the threat of to the people of israel. third, it will make unstable middle east more unstable. it will be a challenge for secretary of state clinton and the president. most important we have to make sure the corridor is secured. jenna: the or what? >> the or what, in concert with israel will come up with a good or what. we don't need a or what that's a threat. we don't need to say, make my day. we need to live up to your commitment and make the corridor more secure. jenna: talk about egypt more broadly with the entire region. there are some domestic issues. you were chatting about some of the fiscal cliff issues overall watching so closely. how do you prioritize here? how does egypt figure in this letter for example, to some of the other challenges

we're facing as a country? >> well egypt is an international challenge for us and a foreign relations challenge for us but egypt has been prior to the revolution one of the more stablizing forces in the middle east. there's a huge election that started today in embassies around the world for egyptians and will culminate this saturday when they start the vote on the new constitution. there is a lot of concern about the new constitution. a lot of concern about the power it gives president morsi. that will be a major issue for us in the united states. jenna: how concerned are you some of the smuggle abouted weapons will be turned on us? >> the smuggled weapons won't be turned on us per se. but because of our pact to defend israel if they attack israel they are attack the united states. jenna: you said we don't need a threat now? >> we need diplomacy to work and president morsi to realize he got a mandate but not a mandate to turn to sharia law. jenna: that is government as well in transition and what happens with president morsi. nice to have you on set, sir.

>> great to be here. jenna: we'll look forward to having you back and we'll be bab back with more harping

>> reporter: rick folbaum in the control room. a prapbd new hour on "happenin than brand-new hour of "happening now." we got word on a sentencing of a man linked to the killing of brian terry. we'll have an update on how much time he'll serve. this is the walker family, killed in florida decades ago. the murders never solved. but we'll talk to a reporter who may have finally broken that case wide open, leaking it to another infamous crime. we'll have an update on an explosion and raging fire in west virginia that shut down parts of a major highway and destroyed a handful of homes. all of that and breaking news as the second hour of "happening now" now starts right now. jon: north korea fires a space

shot heard round the world launching a long-range rocket in defines of international sanctions a. brand-new hour, it's all "happening now," i'm jon scott. jenna: i'm jenna lee. today in washington. north korea doesn't call it a rocket, they say it's a satellite that they sent into orbit. north korea says it's, well this is part of its main plan overall, it's part of pursuing what they are as a country. some suggest, though, here at home that this is part of developing a nuclear armed missile, whether it's for them or for others. the white house calling it a highly provocative act, roughly 30,000 american troops are stationed along the toda the zone. james rosen joins us now. we said a highly provocative act. any other response from the administration. >> reporter: the obama administration came into hower with only limited approaches for north korea and hasn't managed over the last four years to

develop any truly creative new ones. the launch occurred just before 8:00pm eastern time last night, the analysts say the test of this long-range model was largely successful and helped the dictatorship cross an important threshold of being able to pair a nuclear war hold with a intercontinental missile. the next threshold they cross will make yeongpyeong a threat to the united states. assistant secretary of state kurt campbell is in the philippines, 200 miles east of that country when the rocket's second stage fell to aert. earth. campbell offered only a hint how the u.s. will proceed from here. >> we will be working closely with our allies, south korea, japan, others to do a full assessment of what's transpired. our primary point at this juncture is that this step is provocative, in strict violation of u.n. security council

resolutions, and we, along with the philippines and other countries in the asian pacific region condemn it. >> reporter: if the pasthe u.s. will go to the u.n. to ask for more sanctions against north korea, but this is the most heavily sanctioned state. jenna: we know there are millions of people starving. how does north korea work this out where they make this a priority, but they have people starving in their country? >> reporter: estimated to be 6 million people starving or malnutrition. it's called a military first policy. kim jong un the youthful leader of north korea only in power for about a year is expected to follow-up on this launch with another nuclear tes cement his internal standing after the failed test of last april. few foreign policy observers ever try to that it opl the thinking of this regime because it's policy choices are often barbaric.

the humanitarian crisis in north korea is classified by many people as an out right genocide. jenna: by the way, 12-12-12 are you rid i for that. >> reporter: that is the occasion why we are paired together. jenna: it finally happened. it's a big story we'll continue to follow. john has more on north korea now. jon: gordan chang is a frequent guest of ours the author of "nuclear showdown north korea takes on the world." were you as surprised as the rest of the world seemed to be when they got the missile off the launch pad. >> i was stunned. this is a really important engineering feat. they did it under extremely difficult circumstances within a very tight timetable. although they do have the ability to do this on their own we nonetheless have to ask the question, did they have help if if they had help it probably was china johnston china supposedly stpresed regre expressed regret

that they had gone through with this. >> they might have had a lot of influence and they could help stop it if they stopped the aid and fuel and all the rest of it. at the top of the north korean leadership there is turmoil. kim jong un wanted a real success to mark his first year in office. jon: by launching this missile does he get that credibility with the military this he's been looking for? >> i think that he does. there's been a lot of purges of senior military officers, about four or five months ago creating discontent among the senior staff. this probably will help him especially if they have the nuclear test which they just referred to. this is going to be a series of provocations that we'll have to endure unless we do something, and we do have the ability to do something. jon: they are the most sanctioned nation on earth as james was just mentioning. do we have any leverage at all. >> of course we have. in 2005 the bush administration

imposed financial sanctions that crippled north korea. we need to interdict north korean shipping because they are going to sell this missile to iran. an embargo is not out of the question. they are a year, maybe 18 months from being able to wipe out an american city at will. we don't have a missile defense system that is reliable that can stop this. jon: you really think that would be in the cards, that they would make that kind of threat? >> they would make the threat, i don't think they'd actually try to carry it out. at this point they have an unstable regime, a lot of moving parts at the top of the north korean system, you don't know if they have the policy coherence to do the rational things and that's really the big concern with north korea. jon: what does china get out of continuing to support them? >> they get to bee devil us. every time there is a problem with north korea we go to beijing and ask them for help and they extract concessions from us. for a decade we have placed more importance on integrating china into the international system

than stopping north korea. we always go to bay sing to look for help. we have spent the only currency that matters now and that is time. jon: it's been a wrong-headed approach would be your argument, or so it sounds. >> yeah, it hasn't worked, right now i think we have to start looking to ourselves for our security, because right now we are getting down to a period where we don't have the luxury and time to try to do these big things. what we have to do is we have to start the north korean missile program because it's attached to their nuclear program which is also attached to the iranian missile and nuclear programs. jon: to play devil's advocate here there are a awful lot of nations in the world that has the capability of launching missiles into space. so what this north korea is now one of them. >> we are not too concerned about britain or finance land or norway but we are concerned about a regime who has in the past used violence to upset status quos that it has found to be unacceptable. now they have bigger weapons and so it is a concern.

jon: gordan chang, always good to have your expertise. thanks for coming in today. >> thank you. jenna: jon we'll move to breaking news out of arizona that rick was telling us at the top of the show. a key suspect in the botched gun smuggling operation fast and furious was sentenced moments ago in a federal court in phoenix. his name jaime avila, jr. and he pleaded guilty to charges he bought assault rifles in the oohed stateooh united states and smuggled them to mexico. two of the guns were found at the murder scene in the killing of brian terry. >> reporter: avila is one of six straw buyers who was sentenced in phoenix. he is the tpaeufs everything that went wrong in fast and furious. he just received 57 months, or just under knife years i five years in jail. one because he recruited others

into the scheme. he bought a lot of guns, and the weapons he did buy were used in the killing of brian terry. as a straw buyer the sinaloa cartel played avila $55,000 to buy 52 weapons including three ak-47's. two of those rifles were found at the murder scene of brian terry in the mountains north of the mexican border, that shooting occurred about two years ago this week. >> this crime does this victims, brian maybe the only recognized victim here in the united states, but i think there are an untold number of victims south of the border, victims of fast and furious weapons that have flowed south to the mexican drug cartels. >> reporter: the u.s. attorney's office did not want the terry family to speak today at sentencing, claiming that the illegal gun buying by avila was unrelated to terry's murder but the family persisted and won.

they told the judge that avila deserved the maximum sentence because he knew the consequences of his actions. that would mean people would die. in all the u.s. bureau of alcohol, tobacco and firearm, or atf helped traffic 2100 weapons and 24,000 rounds of ammunition from u.s. gun stores to mexican cartels in operation fast and furious. five men are charged in terry's murder, two are in custody, three are at large in mexico. one has pled guilty, he'll likely get life in prison. as for after virginia louisiana he was not charged in terry's death. he pled guilty to conspiracy and dealing guns without a license. the prosecutors recommended 57 months and that's what the judge accepted. basically the guy was in court in his jumpsuit -rblgs he spok jump jumpsuit, he spoke to the family, said he was sorry and he's moving on. jenna: you wonder if that plea sraoeudz the family any solace after losing their son. more of the story as we get it

thank you. jon: breaking news out of syria. leland vittert has that live for us from geralds. >> reporter: right now, jon the obama administration is now officially recognized syrian opposition as a legitimate representation of the syrian people. also we are hearing today, we don't know if it is related or not, there was an attack on the syrian interior ministry, a car bomb that jaws happened ove just happened over the past couple of hours. that is consistent with major attacks inside damascus. the rebels themselves lack ability to attack damascus in terms of any kind of military operation. the rebels are disorganized, a little bit incompetence people say but they are taking gains by taking a number of syrian military bases on the out skirts ever the country and to the north. one of the things the syrian opposition is getting help from is foreign fighters which is seen in this algerian state television documentary showing men from all over the world,

muslim extremists coming to syria to continue the fight. while they have a common enemy, that being syrian president bashar al-assad they don't have a common goal. they want to turn syria into an islamist state. the question going forward for the u.s. government is whether they are going to arm these new opposition fighters or these new opposition groups. the problems with sending weapons there it's very difficult to figure out and control where the weapons end up. look only back to the 1980s when the united states armed afghanistan and now it's the u.s. troops facing the very same weapons used by the taliban. it's a dangerous game to get into. jon: thanks very much. leland vittert from jerusalem. jenna: in three seconds, here it is 12-12-12, there it is right, it's the 12th day of the 12th month of 2012. pretty cool, right? it only comes around every 85 years at least another 85 years before we are going to see that

again. the last triple digit date in this century by the way. this day in fact is a very special moment, a very special one for an alabama boy who turns 12 years old today, as you at 12-12. happy birthday to him. get this his family didn't realize the coincidence until he filled out the birth certificate and said oh this is actually a big day for our kid. the parents say they have received rather interesting messages from conspiracy near r*euss, they try not to may attention to that, just try to focus on the happiness of the day, and 12-12? 10? wait now it's 12-13 it's over. maybe we'll just run commercials for the rest of the hour. jon: i feel so deflated at th all of a sudden. he just wants his birthday cake that killed. if you're not on the east coast you still get to experience the moment coming up. jenna: we always think it's all about us, right? it's always about us. on the west coast you can really

fully prepare. jon: your mom and dad can enjoy it in san francisco. the defense department is keeping america safe around the world. we'll look at what might happen to the pentagon's budget if we should go over the fiscal cliff and why some folks are saying that wouldn't be so bad. [ male announcer ] when was the last time something made your jaw drop? campbell's has 24 new soups that will make it drop over, and over again. ♪ from jammin' jerk chicken, to creamy gouda bisque. see what's new from campbell's. it's amazing what soup can do.

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probation has been revoked. the troubled starlet into more trouble over some traffic accidents. her probation has been revoked. the likelihood is that the starlet could be headed back to the slammer -- well i think you know how i feel about lindsey and her time outside of bars, but you decide. would that be a good thing or not? we'll keep you updated. jenna: jon is obviously a huge fan of lindsay lohan. jon: huge. jenna: posters all over his

office, how embarrassing sometimes. we'll keep you posted on everything going on in hollywood. we want to turn to serious news. house republican leaders are pressing the president to come up with a plan for spending cuts and tax revenue to avoid the so-called fiscal cliff we're talking so much b. otherwise we know there will be automatic tax hikes. there are also the spending cuts that kick in starting in january. the pentagon will bear the brunt of the automatic spending cuts. some republicans say mandatory cuts are better than no cuts at all and we should put defense spending on the chopping block to accomplish the long-term goal of reducing the deficit. joining me now oklahoma congressman james langford, his second term in congress. what do you think about that, some suggesting this is in a political article that the republicans are foresee questions tracing if that is the only way to cut the debt and deficit. >> the challenge of it is this is really part sue of the debt ceiling debate we had last

summer. we wanted a strategic plan to reduce the spending. the house passed that in may. we had an outlined plan to reduce spending. we had no answer from them. the see questions station wa sequestration was the last report. i haven't been in congress a longtime but i can tell you they don't do anything until they have to. that is that have to moment. jenna: you say we have our plan, we put it forward to you guys, if it doesn't happen you'll get what you want in the form of see questions station. >> we are talking about $120 billion across the board in spending cuts and $3.7 trillion budget. the worst way to do that is an across the board cut. it just happenstance. there are areas of waste but to cut everything across the board is the worst way to do it. jenna: how would you approach defense spending? is that an area we should take a

look at. >> sure, people need to realize there's always been $500 billion in defense cut. we are still flying 50-year-old aircrafts in many parts. we have grandchildren that are flying the same tail number that their grandfather flew in the air force. there is a need to reinvest back into military spending but is there an area of waste, you'll not find anyone in the defense industry to say there is no waste in defense there is. jenna: this interpretation from the article was suggesting that new politicians like yourself are free from "deol geez of the cold war. you're free from ideologies that are based in the reagan era, that you're a new group of politicians that don't have those strings, is that the case? >> no, what is interesting. i'm 44 years old i grew up out of high school in the reaganer a. that is actually my impression of conservatism and dealing with tax west a strong defense, dealing with family oriented fiscal and social policies. this is not anti-defense this is just anti-waste, there are areas

of waste that we need to focus in on. the president is trying to solve the fiscal cliff, we are trying to solve the debt and the deficit. jenna: you have a fresh look at things. what do you think the leadership that exists now that is negotiating this that may be more entrenched in politics than you have been, what kind of advice would you give them. >> we are able to say to leadership and the leadership is able to listen from their own constituents instead, i'm from central oklahoma. the key thing that comes up over and over again is we have to deal with the debt and deficit. we hear the noise of that maybe closer to the ground and that is a good thing to be able to share. when you've got a trillion dollars of over spending we've got to deal with a trillion dollars of over spending. jenna: you came in fresh in 2010, you signed up for a second turn at this. >> there are a few things left to lee solve, let's get on with them.

jen congratulations on a second term. thanks for coming into the studio. jon: a murder in broad daylight on a busy street in manhatten. new york police are releasing surveillance video of the moments before a machine was gunned down in what investigators are calling a hit. where the search for a killer stands now. plus, the olympics has it, so does baseball, so why does the nfl still have no testing for hgh, or human growth hormone? what congress is threatening to do, reaction from a former pr pro you know.

jon: right now police in new york city are saying the murder of a man in broad daylight on a busy midtown sidewalk with us a well planned ambush. but who killed a young man from los angeles in cold blood and why? rick folbaum has the latest on this mystery for us.

>> reporter: it really is a mystery. police say brandon woodard never saw it coming. surveillance video which captured the entire murder shows the 31-year-old walking past his killer, tapping away on a smartphone when suddenly he is ambushed from behind, shot once in the back of the head. the killer and his get away driver are still on the loose. meantime woodard's family back in his native's los angeles reeling from his death. >> our hearts are just -- are very hurt right now, so, you know, we are trying to deal with the grief of the loss of a son, the loss of a father, and the loss of a brother, and it's just a devastating event right now. >> reporter: woodard was a law student, the father of a young four-year-old girl who had come to new york city for a two-day visit. he was staying at a hotel very close to where he was killed. even though his murder took

place in broad daylight on a busy city street no one seemed to have got even a good look at the killer or at the license plate of the get away car. back to you. jon: what a strange story, rick folbaum thanks. jenna: from one strange case to another, could the brutal deaths of this young family be linked to another notorious crime that put the country on edge 50 years ago and became the subject after book and a hollywood film? we'll talk a little bit more about this mystery that may be solved now. a massive gas line explosion scorching parts of a major interstate, coming up an update on the damage and what witnesses say they saw happen.

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but phillips' caplets don't. they have magnesium. for effective relief of occasional constipation. thanks. [ phillips' lady ] live the regular life. phillips'. jenna: right now in west virginia a part of highway 77 is back open after a massive natural gas explosion and fire tore through a community there. we have amazing video of that. rick folbaum has more with the latest. rick? >> reporter: this is unbelievable video. we'll show it to everybody. a lot of stories in recent weeks about many benefits of natural gas. this is sort of the flipside, accidents can and do happen. few know that better than people who live in west virginia. this happened tuesday when a transmission line exploded and triggered this massive fire. now the good news, nobody was hurt. the bad news, a large chunk of i-77 was destroyed as were four houses. here is the governor. >> actually we have people from the federal as well as

the state pipeline division many coming in, working with the companies, trying to determine what caused this explosion, why it happened. you know, one of those rare events that happened. at this time we do not have those answers but hopefully in the next several hours we'll have a better idea of what caused the explosion. >> reporter: still no answers today. even though as you mentioned, jenna, workers were able to get that highway opened back up in time for the morning rush. safety experts say there needs to be more oversight of these gas lines to make sure that natural gas companies are not putting people in danger. back to you. jenna: yeah. rick, thank you. jon: well a cold case gets hot again with new questions about whether the killer is from a notorious murder also murdered another family while on the run. richard hickock and perry smith were hanged in the 1960s for the murders of a kansas family. their grisly crime spree captured in the pages of truman capote's classic, in

cold blood. the two men went to the gallows for the november 1959 killings of herbert clutter, his wife and their two children. more than 50 years later they are being eyed in a set of murders nearly identical. the killings of cliff and christine walker and their two young children in osprey, near sarasota, florida, a month after the kansas killings. the two men were spotted in florida while on the run for the kansas murders. eyewitnesses remember seeing them in sarasota on the same day the walkers were killed. now authorities want to ex-assume the killer's bodies to see if they have a dna match. here is forensic expert michael bauden on the cold case yesterday on "happening now.". >> i think the concept that police departments have and brought up, that, old cases can still be solved with evidence from 50 years ago if they have saved the evidence and if they bring

it forth. jon: joining us now, shannon mcfar land, a reporter for the "sarasota herald-tribune". she covered the story for her newspaper and broken much of this new information. shannon, what is it that led police first of all to the idea, general idea that these two guys might be responsible? >> you know, the sheriff's office has a list of nearly 600 suspects that they have compiled in the last 6 years. these guys were actually suspects for the first three months of the investigation and dismissed after polygraph and fingerprints allowed detectives to think that it wasn't them. jon: and capote in his book talks about them. talks about their time in florida but dismisses the possibility that they could have been responsible, right? >> yeah. capote has three pages mentioning the walker murders and does the same thing that detectives did earlier. he mentions that they have an alibi and fingerprints and polygraph lead them to

the decisively negative. that they were the suspects. jon: tell us some of the coincidences, some of things that police are looking at that capote got wrong. >> you know, capote mentioned they were in miami at a hotel on christmas day and that's one of the things that detectives checked out and realized they checked in earlier than they said they did. they didn't actually stay for five days. they asked for a refund the day after they got there, the day the walkers were killed. and the hotel staff didn't see them again. jon: so we're looking at a picture of the walker family, cliff and christine. their children, jimmy and debbie. it's my understanding that there is dna evidence still available to prosecutors if there's dna evidence of these potential killers, these suspect, right? >> well, it is not necessarily the prosecutors because you can't prosecute the suspects if they're

dead. jon: right. i should have said investigators. good point. >> yeah, but the investigators, they have saved all of this evidence and as the technology has caught up with the case they have come back and retested and tested and tested again and finally found dna evidence in 2004. they started testing suspects and eliminating some people that may have been higher suspects an came back to these guys. now they're hoping that some of that dna evidence may match one of these guys. jon: what is the thinking about the walkers? what was the motive? how would these guys have connected with them? >> the idea is that the walker family was car-shopping on the day of the murders, something they would not normally do that would take them out of their regular element and the, smith and hickock, while they were traveling the country were stealing cars or selling off parts of cars or stolen items and were regularly at car dealerships and gas stations and they

spotted the family. talked to the family. asked around about someone who was looking to trade or buy a car and they were driving, smith and hickock were driving the same model car that the walkers were looking at. jon: a 1956 chevy belleair. >> uh-huh. and they followed the family home or got directions to the family's home and maybe they intended to offer a deal or they got there intending to kill them. jon: but again, they are hoping they can exhume these guys and hatch the dna evidence that was left behind at the walker crime scene to one or both of these convicted killers? >> yeah. the sheriff's office has not even finished writing the exhumation order yet. they're still working on it. as soon as they finish that. the order will go to kansas. kansas will go through the process to approve it before a judge and exhume these guys from the cemetery in kansas. jon: nobody knows whether there is usable dna evidence

remaining after what 40 years underground for these guys, more than that? >> yeah. it's, i mean the bones themselves have dna evidence and they, i talked to some dna analysts said they regularly find dna, viable dna in bodies at least this old or older. so there's a very good chance they could get dna from it but there is always the chance it will be there or it won't match. jon: it is a fascinating case. i know you've been doing great work on it for your paper there we'll continue to watch it and put the link-up there on our website so people can continue to follow your work. thanks very much. >> thank you. jenna: well, right now we know congress certainly has a lot on its plate but today the topic of one key committee is football. that's right, it's football. the house oversight committee just wrapping up a hearing on the science of human growth hormone, hgh as you might have heard it, and

whether or not there is test done in pro football to see if players are using it. right now there is not. so why is congress getting involved here. >> let me address one point that is raised which is why congress is getting involved in this issue. i'm sure the chairman agrees with me that this dispute should be resolved by the nfl and the players association. we wish it could be or would be. they have a contract and they should honor it but when they refuse to do so, that sends exactly the wrong message to the kids we have sworn to protect and that is when it becomes our business. jenna: a rare moment of bipartisanship there. you saw congressman issa nodding along with congressman cummings. the former al-pro linebacker for the new york jets is joining us on the phone. a host as well on espn radio also in new york city, greg buttle is with us. greg, it is interesting of

all the stories we've done today we don't think we would be talking about congress and the nfl. there is issue of hgh testing and not happening. why is this not happening in >> everybody wants to confuse the issue. the simplicity on one hand there is science and on the other hand there is law. there is no law in science until now and that is this. they both agreed we shouldn't be using it. okay. let's test. but now it's not about let's test. it's about how you can do anything else but test. so therefore the lawyers get involved and the lawyers have to defend the accused. and the validity of any testing will always be in question because no matter how block and white the rule is, lawyers have to defend the accused and union would have to defend accused players around the story not becomes that the player used it or what they did. it is the story of, how did he get caught?

how was it collected? who said what? what did he take? those are the issues that all come up and that's why there is so much confusion. jenna: there is a little bit of a headache involved as you mentioned. it is the nfl's league and the players union agreed to do the testing. they're not doing it as you mentioned. there is a series of reasons why they're not including some or doubting the validity to test for hgh even though uses sometimes during the olympics. greg, you might know my father played in the nfl i have a little more affection for nfl players if i can state my bias today. i'm curious whether you think whether or not these athletes should be tested? what do you think about messages sent to young kids? >> again you look at a lot of players. half the players don't care about young kids. they're not role models. that is what they will say to you. i always felt that you are a role model. what you do on the field is a big deal and so does the nfl and so should the union by the way.

but when you take a look at it, i think that there shouldn't be hgh in the league or there should be, you know? i'm not --. jenna: you're saying, just to be clear when there should be hgh in the league, there shouldn't be use of hormone or shouldn't be any testing for it? >> i'm saying this. make a decision. it is either okay to use or it is not okay to use. jenna: what do you think is best. >> i'm sorry, what do i think is best? jenna: yeah. >> i don't care. you talk about all people. there are many people that use hgh, find it as an unbelieveable, it is unbelievable drug to make them more youthful, more vibrant, stronger, heal your body. i think that a lot of players in the nfl do it not because it is a performance-enhancing drug. it keeps you healthier. it promotes for you to get better faster. jenna: i'm sorry to interrupt, greg. i'm curious because we've done so many stories on the

news and you've been on to talk with us about concussions. >> sure. jenna: a lot of talk about players getting bigger, faster, stronger even at aing young age and that could contribute some say to the tough injuries we're seeing including the rise in concussions. do you have any concern about that? >> no. actually, players are training, there are different methods of training. there is more specific methods to train what your sport is but it's not that the speed of the nfl has gotten faster. it's that more players are faster. and if you're bigger and faster it's simple. go back to the science and chemistry. physics, force equals mass times acceleration. jenna: i don't want to go back to physics greg. >> it is greatest but so black and white it is unbelievable. jenna: greg, interesting to have you. we saw the congressional hearing and thought, what is that about? it is an interesting topic and appreciate your time. any games you want to weigh in this weekend.

what are the jets going to do? >> tell you what. i don't know how the jets will do. you could say they're going to do this. i tell you something, they are interesting to watch. it may be ugly but they have made it interesting once again. jenna: that is true. it is a great american sport. as i mentioned i'm a little biased. greg, nice to talk to you as always. >> have a great day. jenna: you too. jon? jon: there are new developments jenna in the disappearance of a little boy more than 30 years ago. eight ton pats snatched from the streets of new york city. . we earned them. and if washington tries to cram decisions about the future... of these programs into a last minute budget deal... we'll all pay the price. aarp is fighting to protect seniors with responsible... solutions that strengthen medicare and... social security for generations to come. we can do better than a last minute deal...

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jenna: we have some breaking news out of syria we want to share with you first reported by "the new york times" and looks like we also confirmed it here at fox. we're just hearing according to obama administration officials the assad regime there fighting for its survival amid this civil war in this country, the assad regime is now using scud missiles at rebel fighters and apparently the administration says this has been happening for a few

different days. the reason why scud missiles are important and certainly a powerful reason, because scud missiles can carry chemical weapons. as we reported to you this week the president has been very clear, president obama, that if syria uses chemical weapons, that is a game-changer for the united states. what that means for us we won't know. we don't have specifics on but that is just the report now coming into our newsroom. the assad regime using scud missiles at rebel fighters. no word on casualties by the way and no evidence of chemical weapons being used as well but an important, perhaps switch to this conflict that's now been ongoing for 21 months. we'll keep you updated as we hear more. jon: the kidnapping of 6-year-old eat town patz stunned the nation and now the man who confessed to the murder is live in court. >> reporter: we're tracking this down in the newsroom because it is expected to happen to.

pid -- pedro hernandez confessed to killing etan patz back in 1979. he was a 6-year-old living in new york city when he disappeared walking to the local bus stop on his way to school. his face was the very first to appear on milk cartons which would become a nationwide campaign to find missing children. what happened to him remain ad mystery until perhaps hernandez was arrested earlier this year. the 51-year-old worked at a small grocery story in etan's neighborhood. police say he confessed to killing the boy. hernandez's lawyer says mental problems led him to falsely admit to that murder. again the arraignment set for today in new york city, not far from where etan patz's parents still live to this day. that arraignment has not yet happened. if it does during our show we'll keep you posted. back to you. jon: please do. rick folbaum. jenna: a former president about to become a grandfather for the very first time. we'll tell you who is

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jenna: well former president george w. bush is about to get a new title, the title of grandpa. mr. bush's daughter, jenna bush hager, announcing she is pregnant with her first child. the former president says he is quote, fired up about becoming a grandfather. how about that? former first lady laura bush is thrilled with the news. it will be the cowell's first grandchild. she and her husband were married the at texas ranch. you might remember photos

from the beautiful wedding. congratulations to all of them. jon? jon: let's hope that goes well. that will be great. construction projects, jenna are usually a hopeful sign of a rebounding economy. but if far too many areas these projects are grinding to a halt. in hard hit new york city half finished residential or commercial buildings are all too common sight. senior correspondent eric shawn is live in brooklyn with a look why. >> reporter: hi, jon. they are empty monuments to a bad economy. unfished buildings like this one you can see just stopped in mid-construction. officials say this is problem throughout new york city. likely from the economic crisis from 2008. they say it is issue of bank financing that institutional lending is just not back where it should be as it was a number of years ago and these cinder block and seat empty structures that are silent or alone are in several neighborhoods. take a look at the numbers. there are a lot. 691 inactive sites say the

city. that is up 17% since just this past february and almost half, 45%, have been dormant since 2009. >> the primary reason appears to be financial. the developer has run into financial trouble, perhaps other kinds of problems but, they either run out of money or it's a combination of running low on money and not having enough sales where there are condominium or co-op sales or the market for rentals doesn't appear to be strong enough to justify completion of the project. >> reporter: the american institute of architects has started to try and kick-start some of these projects. they have an online link that connects developers to investors and that can avoid the banks. this problem is not new. back during the recession of 1976, even the posh upper east side of manhattan was dotted with vacant lots and unfinished buildings at the

time. major new york developer peter calico back then 35 years ago said it was cyclical. he predicted it would all come back once the bank financing opened up and he was correct. there was a major building boom here in new york city that started in the 1980s. those here hope history will repeat itself. they pronounced for example, this building behind me, it has now been resold to a new developer and they do expect construction to resume here soon. they certainly hope that. jon? jon: if the banks lend again. eric shawn in brooklyn. eric, thank you. jenna: well a potbellied pig named penelope fighting crime she doesn't wear a cape or fly but she knows how to throw her weight around. a full explanation of all of that ahead.

>> a potbellied pig perched in the back seat after purloined car.